[Sixth in a series.] Moto is a restaurant in Chicago that serves science food (or maybe even science fiction food). I heard about it on the radio, and had wanted to go for about a year and a half. We ordered the ten-course menu, and it was incredible:
GREEK salad
GREEK salad, again
CARIBBEAN escolar
BBQ PORK & baked beans
PASTA & quail
PRIME with potato
FRUIT & bubbles
TRUFFLE & white chocolate
PERSIMMON & cream
S'MORES
Moto: Course Five: |
November 24, 2008 |
Almost halfway done with our meal, the fifth dish arrived. As it arrived, we were told that this was Moto's take on macaroni and cheese.
Served in a clear glass tumbler, this dish was a creamy white-ish yellow (more white than yellow), with chunks of what I assumed to be quail. The waiter explained this dish to us as dehydrated and puffed elbow macaroni with powdered cheese sauce on top. Mixed into the macaroni were chunks of deep fried quail.
I attempted to spear some macaroni on my fork, but they were far too crispy. When I finally got the food to my mouth, I loved the crunch of the puffed noodles, but the cheese powder was (in my opinion) too strong to be considered macaroni sauce. I couldn't figure out what kind of cheese it really was, but it was something that was too fancy tasting. Macaroni and cheese is supposed to be simple comfort food, and making it fancy seemed somehow wrong.
Then I got to the quail. Let me just say, I am not very fond of the little birds, they seem somehow pointless to me – all that work for such a small amount of meat? Please. I didn't have to do any extensive bone picking or really any work at all for this quail, but still didn't like it.
I am somewhat picky about the texture of my food, so this quail didn't go over too well with me. Once I had it in my mouth, I felt like I had to chew it for hours. It wasn't tough, but it was chewy and. I didn't really mind the taste, once I got over the rubbery texture, but as I said, I am picky about textures. It would have been better (but not so exotic) to just have regular chicken in the macaroni – I would have been able to finish that.
Overall, for me, this was the only dish that was a disappointment, because two of the main components of the dish just weren't quite right. I guess I have just grown up with macaroni - either the Mac and Cheese from a box, or the creamy baked kind my dad makes - being casual comfort food, and making it fancy was kind of unsettling (but I guess that's the whole point at Moto….)
Stay tuned for course six!!
Isis takes ballet, plays soccer, sings in a choir, and loves to travel. She thinks that if you are going to eat, why not eat well if you can? There seems to be no reason not to. |
Isis (not her real name) is sixteen years old and is really interested in food
because her dad is a good cook. She was practically raised in a Vietnamese
restaurant, and as a baby ate her first solid foods there, which were rice
noodles. She tries most foods that are offered to her and her parents urge her
to also. For example, when she was 7 years old, she was at a French restaurant
and her parents were having snails and they easily talked her into trying them.
They ended up being pretty good! Email questions or comments for these two young women to webmaster@drgourmet.com.